Rowans Health Update and Business Changes | 2023 Update

 

Hey everyone! Rowan here with a little update for you all as we come close to finishing another year here at Infinity CBD. 

I'll admit i've been putting this update off simply because it's a hard topic to discuss when it comes to a personal health update, and i've been trying to find a way to communicate what is important for you all to know without it sounding like some sort of pity party/ PR stunt. 

However word get's around and the cat is out of the bag so to speak, and as i'm already hearing mixed versions of what's real I figured it's time to cut to the point and reassure everyone where I can.

The quick and short of it is don't panic, i'm not about to die (Despite rumours i've heard), and the business will be continuing without any interruption for those of your who rely on our products daily. However, with that said, we are taking a longer than usual period of time down over Christmas/ New year due to these health reasons meaning that customer support will be out of action as well as order dispatch times being different. These will be available on the website with updates where necessary. So we recommend topping up in advance should you need to. 

Due to these health reasons i'm writing this quickly, and without formatting out with images etc so I apologise for the wall of text! 

Let's jump in! 

2023 - What a year... 

Infinity CBD had one goal of 2023, to step away from how things were being run previously to make it operate smoother and invest in the educational side of the business to support the the ever changing CBD / Medical Cannabis space. As time went on through recovering from the impact of covid and the previous business partners commitments elsewhere were taking time away from here, we decided to streamline things and make this business run in a more focussed way. 

During this time we have been changing our packaging supply chains to be more reliable and eco focused, refined our product line off of feedback whilst improving cost efficiency for you guys as well as finally released some of our most requested products after years of development. 

Although the practical transition has taken longer with unforeseen circumstances, it is almost completed and will be fully transitioned by February 2024.

What does this change mean for our customers?  Nothing really, our website will operate in the same way, the products are being made the way in the same labs. The only practical change will be distribution and customer support where there has been some previous issues which will be resolved. So win win right? 

 

A rise in fraudulent and abusive messages 

As we have grown as a business we have seen all sorts of changes, but one we didn't expect is rise in the amount of fraudulent claims coming through, let alone the change in the way we are spoken to through emails/ customer support. Remember we are a small family run business, not amazon with massive fulfilment centres. We are clear about our dispatch times and our processes, and aren't exempt from human error. We sometimes make mistakes, but always rectify them kindly and generously, however sometimes this takes time to resolve and investigate. It now takes longer to perform these checks with the rise in fraudulent claims. 

We appreciate it has been a hard year for everyone, but remember when you are reaching out for support here you are talking to real people who just like you have also had a tough time, more often than not it's either myself or my wife you're talking to. So from here we simply won't tolerate the threats, fraudulent charge backs or offer additional help outside of our legal duty to anyone who acts in this way. This not only impacts the way we can run this business practically, but it takes time and resources away from the customers who genuinely need our help with consultations/ support and stock.

Those of you who know us will know we have always gone above and beyond for our customers and are always generous with solutions to any issues that may arise when ordering. We started this business to help people, it's that simple. So in the unfortunate event where something may have gone wrong with an order, or the post is delayed, we will always be happy to help and resolve it as long as we are treated kindly in return. 

Any abusive messages, fraudulent order claims/ charge backs from this point forward will be named and shamed and where applicable we will start reporting them to the police. If you're reading this as someone who has made one of the fraudulent claims, know that just because you received a replacement recently doesn't mean we haven't already clocked you and made record. If it happens again the full report will be filed with the police. 

I'm sorry to have to bring this up in this update, but I hope the next segment highlights why i'm getting serious about this with enough being enough. Life is too short.

 

Rowans Health - Clearing up the rumours 

Make plans, God laughs. That's the saying right? Well this year couldn't be more applicable. After lining everything up this year to be about more balance, less stress and making things easier, this curve ball has made sure everything's been chaotic, stressful and much harder than it was supposed to be. 

We know that some of you have heard via third parties, and with most things rumours start spreading and often don't reflect the whole truth. So to cut things short, i'm not dying, but i'm also not alright and currently on a waiting list for some neuro surgery that could change things for the better or worse. As such we have had to focus on making sure things run smooth here behind the scenes when the time comes for me to have my surgery and strict recovery period. We appreciate why there have been concerns about this as those of you who know us know that I developed and make every single product we sell other than our Orbs. So naturally there was a bit of panic about the company going under, or stock running out etc. So bare with me as I break down what is actually going on for some clarity:

Without getting too personal this has had a catastrophic impact on my health and day to day life. On good days I can still climb mountains and do my job/ go about life as normal, on bad days I can barely pick my son up without screaming in pain, losing vision, having waves of nerve pain running across my face, forgetting words or becoming clumsy. Bad days come with no rhyme or reason and nothing prevents the surging pains that come with it. So it's been debilitating in every aspect of our life.

To be frank, it's a terrifying thing to go through, but i'm taking it as it comes and cracking on with what I can when I can. I am on the cancelation list for surgery, and as such could go in to surgery at any point between now and April. Obviously there are serious risks with the surgery and also a concern that it wont result in relief from the above symptoms, so it will undoubtably be a difficult time for us until i'm out the other side. 

As you can imagine it's taken everything I've had to give this year to make this work and maintain things here behind the scenes, and get this business across the line with the support going forward. Thankfully, the majority of the work that I do can be done remotely and manufacturing will be looked after for me whilst I go under. The next few weeks is about transferring this side of things across and building stock back up so that things go uninterrupted. 

So with that said, we will be putting an announcement out once we get a surgery date. Although this shouldn't effect how you guys order things it will mean that my consultancy services/ email will be out of use for my recovery which will likely be between 4-8 weeks if things go well. We will keep you all in the loop via email/ social media. 

So yeah, that's that fun bit sorted. We appreciate the supportive messages we have received from those of you who had heard, and feel blessed to have such lovely customers. So thank you! 

As this has taken it's toll over the past couple of months as things have worsened, it's important for me to focus on recovery to get into the best place when my surgery takes place. So I will be taking some solid time to recover and process over the Christmas period. 

Christmas/ New Year Closing Times:

It's important to note that although customer support will be closed during the Christmas and New Year period, some order fulfilment will still be happening. For solid information regarding order dispatching dates during this time call:  01437 779437

Furthermore we have automated marketing emails and social media posts going out over this period, this doesn't mean that were are monitoring emails at this point. 

Christmas Support Opening hours: 

Our customer support is closed for the following dates during the Christmas/ New Year period: 

Friday 22nd December - 7th January. (Opening again 8th January)

Outro - Ending on a positive: 

Ok so let's end on a positive. 

2023 wasn't just about struggles, but about harvesting the crop from seeds we planted over the past few years. 

1. This year we successfully had Full FSA Validation on all of our submitted products for the Novel Foods process. This process started back in 2019 for us and to think that it is finally there and confirmed is such a huge achievement for us. We couldn't have done it without the continued support of all you lovely people, so thank you! 

2. Our customer base has expanded dramatically with so many new lovely people who use our products daily, as well as so many communities that have brought us in to the fold. We have so much love for you all and cant wait to work alongside you next year.  

3. We have multiple collaborations lined up for 2024 that we've been working on behind the scenes including documentary films, more immersive cinematic ASMR series and completely new and exciting product lines! We're about to shake things up. 

4. We're still here! With such a risky and ever changing industry we took a huge risk trying to establish ourselves here, let alone the hurdles of a global pandemic a year after launch, complications along the way and now the upcoming surgery, but guess what? We're still here and ready to take on 2024 no matter what it throws at us. In our books that's a huge accomplishment!   

So with that, thank you to each and every one of you who have been a part of our journey and taken the time to read this. 

We wish you the best end to the year and cant wait to see you kick ass in 2024! 

Sending love, 

Rowan.